In Healthcare, Preparation is Key

In the midst of confusion and concern about the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the United States, the nation’s attention is focused on the practices and protocols of nurses and other healthcare workers who comprise the front line in patient care.

However, Ebola is merely a high-profile example of the risks that healthcare workers face every day. There is the obvious risk of infection from a blood-borne pathogen through contact with bodily fluids, as is the case with Ebola. However, there is also the potential for injury from biohazardous materials, chemicals, and drugs. According to the World Health Organization, unintentional contact with contaminated needles affects approximately six percent of the global health workforce each year resulting in nearly 100,000 new infections.

Even less serious day-to-day interactions can cause illness or injury to healthcare workers – heavy lifting, patient altercations, and the transmission of far more common airborne illnesses among them.

The healthcare industry can take an important lesson from their current battle against Ebola, including vendors that provide healthcare staffing services to hospitals. While vendors may not have a say in the protocols that their clients have in place, it is their responsibility to educate the nurses and other staff members they employ so policies and protocols can be followed properly. In addition, invest in continuing training to keep nurses at a heightened state of readiness should any serious situation occur.

Comprehensive nurse training and preparation will pay off greatly with fewer days missed, greater nurse confidence, and overall healthier and safer practices. If your nurse staffing agency needs a boost in working capital to invest in your workforce, PRN Funding’s nurse staffing factoring program can work for you. Contact PRN Funding today to apply for immediate funding through nurse staffing factoring.

Which State is the Best for Nurses?

That the nursing industry is changing is indisputable. Social and economic pressures are transforming the industry and will have a continuing impact on new nurses looking to establish themselves in the industry. Where are the nursing jobs? What state offers the best standard of living for its nurses?

WalletHub released a recent analysis of the industry nationwide (including the District of Columbia) with a breakdown of the best – and worst – states for nurses along a variety of criteria. Depending on your area of focus and your career goals, below you will find out which states to pursue…and which to avoid.

Jobs

Nursing is an overall high-demand field, particularly given the impact of the Affordable Care Act on the insured population. However, some states have more openings than others and provide a more ideal destination for the newly minted nurse in search of a job.

Most job openings: District of Columbia

Least job openings: Alabama

Most healthcare facilities per capita: Oregon

Least healthcare facilities per capita: Delaware

Salary

Even the most rewarding position should come with a salary that covers the cost of living and, hopefully, allows an experienced nurse to invest in the future. What kind of price tag comes on your dream job? Find out where you’re likely to get it, and where you may need to pass. (Salary rankings are adjusted for cost of living.)

Highest annual salaries: Texas

Lowest annual salaries: Hawaii

Demographics

A nurse’s dream job location also depends on his or her specialty. Many specialties – including pediatrics, labor & delivery, and elderly care – are concentrated in a single age group, and choosing a location with low numbers of patients in that demographic means finding the right job will prove difficult. WalletHub projected the concentration of patients over 65 in each state by 2030.

Highest percentage of population over 65: Florida

Lowest percentage of population over 65: Utah

This is just a sample of the data and perspectives available in WalletHub’s survey. For more information, visit their site.

Many nurses choose to start their own nurse staffing agencies to serve hospitals and other healthcare facilities. If you are starting a nurse staffing agency and need working capital to get off the ground, contact PRN Funding to start nurse staffing factoring today.

Survey Shines a Light on Nursing Trends

CareerBuilder recently conducted a survey about the nursing profession, in which they measured nurses’ sense of loyalty and satisfaction with their field, the training they find essential to success, and their opinion of the impacts that changes in health care have had on their effectiveness.

Responses from approximately 900 nurses across the country can help health care executives make better decisions about recruiting, retaining, and properly rewarding their nursing staff.

The full results of the study are currently available, and CareerBuilder will present a free webinar discussing how healthcare organizations can integrate those results into their ongoing strategies. In the meantime, below are five of the study’s most interesting results:

5) 58 percent of nurses believe that health care changes have made the workplace less efficient.

4) Half of nurses surveyed believe technology helps them do their jobs faster.

3) Two out of three nurses reported having a mentor on the job – mostly in hospitals and hospice settings.  In facilities without a nurse mentoring program, 41 percent responded that management has not picked up on the idea and 43 percent say that potential mentors are too busy.

2) 67 percent of nurses reported that on the job training was as helpful as or more helpful than their formal training.

1) More than 80 percent of nurses would recommend a career in nursing to others. (Is your job satisfaction that high?)

For more in-depth applications of the study’s information, we recommend taking advantage of CareerBuilder’s webinar scheduled for June 5.

If you provide nursing staff to hospitals and other healthcare facilities, don’t let poor cash flow stop you from keeping them satisfied. PRN Funding can customize the ideal nurse staffing factoring program to meet your needs – contact us today to learn more and get started!

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Hospitals Taking Steps to Avoid Patient Falls

For weak and elderly hospital patients, a fall while in the hospital can extend a hospital stay or, in some cases, cost a patient his life. Hospitals nationwide are responding to this glaring safety concern with a blended approach between technology and human care.

To reduce the number of falls, deemed “never events” (as in, they should never happen in the hospital), many hospitals are relying on high-pitched bed alarms to alert nursing staff when a patient is up from their bed. The alarms use weight-sensitive pads in a bed or chair that emit a noticeable alert when they detect a decrease in pressure.

A study led by Ron Shorr at the University of Florida late last year, however, demonstrates that reliance on bed alarms is simply not enough to reduce the number of falls in a hospital. In a blind comparison of 16 hospital units in which eight units used bed alarms and eight units relied on standard care, there was more than one fall fewer per 1,000 patients in the units relying on standard care procedures. The results are not significant enough to blame bed alarms for more falls, but do call into question the contention that they result in fewer falls.

Nurses cite understaffing as a larger concern that results in other hospital risks. They argue that there is no replacement for capable nurse care. After all, an alarm is only effective if there is a nurse to respond, and hospitals that have increased their staff and provided comprehensive safety training have drastically reduced the number of falls they experience without the added technology.

Nurse staffing agencies are uniquely poised to help hospitals add vital staff to their units, but many may find it difficult to thrive when waiting on extended payments. PRN Funding’s nurse staffing factoring program converts your open invoices to immediate cash that you can use to hire nurses, pay your expenses, and pursue lucrative new contracts with hospitals in need.

Learn more about nurse staffing factoring with PRN Funding, and contact us today to get started.